Engaging children with artists who look like them, have similar experiences, and come from similar backgrounds is a great source of inspiration and empowerment. By reflecting their own identities, experiences and motivations (mirrors) and also providing insight into the identities, experiences and motivations of others (windows) can move students toward more nuanced perceptions of the world around them (sliding glass doors).*  Discover new BIPOC artists to add to your curriculum.


*Source: By Rudine Sims Bishop, The Ohio State University. "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors"
This is a evolving and growing resource. If you have any suggestions or would like to recommend additional artists, please e-mail us at antiracistartteachers@gmail.com We thank you for your collaboration!

Middle Eastern & NOrth African Artists

Artists listed in alphabetical order by first/preferred name.

Artists have many layered identities and art educators need to present them as such.


Representing diverse artists in your curriculum is only part of an Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist curriculum. It needs to be more than a symbolic effort and art educators need to take into account intersectionality when introducing these artists to students. How do aspects of an artists’ social and political identities (ex. gender, sex, race, class, sexuality, religion, ability, physical appearance, etc.) intersect within their work?
In addition, we recognize that race is socially constructed and it is impossible to put humans in clearly defined categories by race. Racial identity is deeply personal, and artists within any given subgroup define themselves differently. Race, ethnicity, and nationality are all factors artist's individually consider as their personal identity. However, as mentioned previously that is not all that there is to their identity. We know that artists have many layered identities and art educators need to do the research to present them as such. These groupings are not perfect, as humans are not meant to be divided into boxes. We hope this resource can help art educators identify who is missing from their curriculum in order to create a curriculum more representative of the incredible diversity among students and artists today.

A

Abdulnasser Gharem
Saudi Arabian

ʻĀdil Sīwī
Egyptian

Aimen Ajhani
Libyan

Alaa Awad
Egyptian

Alia Ali
Yemeni-Bosnian-American

Ahmed Mater
Saudi Arabian

Ahmet Ögüt
Turkish

Alla Abudabbus
Libyan

Amina Menia
Algerian

Arif al-Nomay
Yemeni

Aya Tarek
Egyptian

Ayşe Erkmen
Turkish

Azade Köker
Turkish




B

Bahman Mohasses
Iranian

Baya Mahieddine or Fatima Haddad
Algerian



C-D

E

Elias Izoli
Syrian

Emily Jacir
Palestinian



F

Faeq Hassan
Iraqi

Faisal Samra
Saudi Arabian

Faramarz Pilaram
Iranian

Farhad Moshiri
Iranian

Fayçal Baghriche
Algerian

Farah Al Qasimi
Emirati



G

Gelare Khoshgozaran
Iranian-American

Genco Gulan
Turkish

Ghada Amer
Egyptian

Gulay Semercioglu
Turkish

Gülsün Karamustafa
Turkish




H

Hale Tenger
Turkish

Halil Altındere
Turkish

Hanaa Malallah
Iraqi

Hassan Massoudy
Iraqi

Hassan Hajjaj
Moroccan

Hayv Kahraman
Iraqi

Helen Zughaib
Lebanese

Hiwa K
Iraqi

Houmam Al Sayed
Syrian

Hannah Shaban
Lebanese American



I

Ibi Ibrahim
American-Yemeni

Ilyes Messaoudi
Tunisian

Inji Aflatoun
Egyptian

İrfan Önürmen
Turkish

Ismail Fatah Al Turk
Iraqi




J

Jananne Al-Ani
Iraqi-Irish

Jawad Saleem
Iraqi

Jordan Nassar
American (Palestinian Heritage)

K

Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād
Persian

Kamrooz Aram
Iranian (Middle Eastern)

Khaled Hafez
Egyptian

Khaled Takreti
French-Syrian

L

Lalla Essaydi
Moroccan

Leila Alaoui
French-Moroccan

Lulwah Al-Homoud
Saudi Arabian


M

Magdolene Dykstra
Egyptian-Canadian

Mahi Binebine
Moroccan

Mahmoud Farshchian
Iranian

Manal Al Dowayan
Saudi Arabian

Marcos Grigorian
Armenian-Iranian

Mariam Ghani
Afghan–American

Massinissa Selmani Algerian

Matug Aborawi
Libyan

Meriem Bennani
Moroccan

Michael Rakowitz
Iraqi-American


Mona Hatoum
Palestinian

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian
Iranian

Morehshin Allahyari
Iranian

Mounir Fatmi
Moroccan

Murad Subay
Yemeni


N

Nasreen Shaikh Jamal Al Lail
Indian and Saudi

Nezaket Ekici
German-Turkish

Newsha Tavakolian
Iranian

Nilbar Güreş
Turkish

O

Omar El-Nagdi
Egyptian




P

Parastou Forouhar
Iranian

Parviz Tanavoli
Iranian

Pinar Yolaçan
Turkish


Q

R

Rafa al-Nasiri
Iraqi

Rahman Taha
Yemeni

Reza Derakshani
Iranian

Reem Al Faisal
Saudi Arabian




S

Sadegh Tirafkan
Iranian

Sadek Rahim
Algerian

Safâa Erruas
Moroccan

Safwan Dahoul
Syrian

Sanaz Mazinani
Iranian-Canadian


Sara Shamma
Syrian

Sarah Mohanna Al Abdali
Saudi Arabian

Seif Wanly
Egyptian

Shadi Ghadirian
Iranian

Shakir Hassan Al Said
Iraqi

Shirin Aliabadi
Iranian

Shirin Neshat
Iranian

Sheida Soleimani
Iranian-American

Shadia Heenan Nilforoush
Iranian-American

Sliman Mansour
Palestinian

Stephanie Boutari
Canadian/Egyptian

READ INTERVIEW HERE

T

Tammam Azzam
Syrian




U-V-W-X

Y

Yasmine Diaz
American-Yemeni

Yto Barrada
Franco-Moroccan

Yumna al-Arashi Yemeni Egyptian


Z

Zahrah Al Ghamdi
Saudi Arabian

Zakaria Ramhani
Moroccan



Discover More

@middleeasternart

@artmiddleeast

@emergeast

The 16-Year-Old Algerian Artist Who Influenced Picasso and Matisse

The Middle East is a transcontinental region which generally includes Western Asia, all of Egypt, and Turkey. The term has come into wider usage as a replacement of the term Near East beginning in the early 20th century. By the mid-20th century a common definition of the Middle East encompassed the states or territories of: Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and the various states and territories of Arabia proper (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States, or Trucial Oman [now United Arab Emirates]).


MENA is an acronym for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The region includes approximately 19 countries, according to World Atlas. These are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. A further 16 countries are sometimes included depending on usage. These are Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Chad, Comoros, Cyprus, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, and Turkey.


North Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in the west, to Egypt's Suez Canal and the Red Sea in the east. The most commonly accepted definition includes Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Sudan, the 6 countries that shape the top North of the African continent.